In wireless networks that deploy multiple frequency bands within a single geographic area, such as co-located cells or access nodes, inter-frequency handovers are used to offload end-user wireless devices from a congested frequency band to a non-congested frequency band. Typically, inter-frequency handovers are triggered based on radiofrequency (RF) strength of signals transmitted from one or more access nodes. For example, in a long-term evolution (LTE) system, signal level parameters including thresholds are transmitted to end-user wireless devices in system information block (SIB) messages, and measurement events such as A2, A3 and A5 events can trigger a handover request from an end-user wireless devices based on whether or not a signal level of an access node exceeds or falls below a threshold. Some handovers may be forced in order to perform load balancing operations. However, such forced handovers can result in an end-user wireless device requesting multiple handovers back and forth among access nodes or frequency bands, as some combinations of signal level measurements may trigger repeated handovers that are contrary to the intended purpose of the load balancing operations.